Filling a vital need for grades 6-8 educators, this practical guide presents a field-tested framework for promoting students reading, writing, and collaborative learning in the middle school years. The expert authors describe ways to scaffold the development of content knowledge and core literacy skills using challenging, full-length anchor texts and connected text sets. They provide specific differentiation strategies and instructional routines, all emphasizing culturally responsive practice. Teachers see how students with varying support needs can engage productively in lessons focused on reading, discussion, grammar and language, writing, and research. In a convenient large-size format, the book includes links to two complete lesson modules, numerous "Try It Yourself!" activities for teachers, and 19 reproducible/downloadable forms.